LOVE Parks Week starts today and if you have never heard of it before, you may be surprised to find that it began back in 2006.

The aim was to raise awareness not just of the health benefits of green spaces but the part that they play in building happy and strong communities.

The campaign has made huge strides since then, with more than 1,100 family events, mostly free, being run this week, making a great start to the school holidays.

With funding cuts imminent, now is the time to really join in Love Parks Week as organisers ramp up their efforts to see more parks across the UK and a new slogan: “A park is for life not just for summer.”

A park is for life not just for summer

Love Parks week

With this in mind it is particularly exciting to hear that a new park and square are being planned in the heart of London, where outside space is of course at a premium. The square and park in King’s Cross, Camden, will open next year and the big new spaces, which as yet have not been named, are being designed to facilitate a wide range of activities and uses.

The square will have the infrastructure in place for markets, concerts and cinema, while the park is being described as a new “lawn” for London.

Both form part of the regeneration of the King’s Cross area, which is being transformed from a rather shady and unfashionable area into the latest chic destination.

The developer of the 67-acre site, the King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership, is creating 20 new and refurbished office buildings and nearly 2,000 new homes, as well as new shops and restaurants.

Aside from the sheer scale, what makes King’s Cross different is the determination to create an interesting place with a truly diverse mix of uses.

The area already benefits from a lively and diverse arts and events programme that makes use of the world-class public spaces that are being built: a massive 40 per cent of King’s Cross is public realm, or open spaces managed for people’s enjoyment.

The park, located just behind the Granary Building in the heart of the King’s Cross neighbourhood, will be a natural lung between new office and residential buildings under construction.

Related articles

Together with the square, it will form a completely new access route to the Regent’s Canal. The square has been designed by landscape architect Laurie Olin, known for his work on the new US embassy building, who has given it a chevron stone pattern, with seating areas enclosed by planting, and water jets forming pools to the east.

The park is designed by Townshend Landscape Architects, already responsible for new gardens beside St Paul’s Cathedral. It is inspired mainly by traditional London garden squares, which have seen a massive resurgence of interest in recent years, with extensive new planting and sculptural installations popping up, while the Bloomsbury squares host designer parties through the summer.

The new King’s Cross square (above) will have an avenue of London Plane trees along its eastern side. The trees will eventually mature to create the privacy and dappled shade that makes these squares so special.

“We have put people at the heart of the design and think that these new public spaces will be fantastic places for all who use them,” said Robert Townshend of Townshend Landscape Architects.